Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “tree comment”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “tree comment”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

RootsPersona shows at wp.org #7 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Responsive Lightbox & Gallery places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 2003 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Comment Reply Email Notification 3K+ · 4.8★ (33) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) wp.org #3 4 Download Manager 90K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #4 5 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #5 6 Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 FG Joomla to WordPress 7K+ · 4.7★ (336) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Media Library Organizer – Folders, File Manager & Media Categories 20K+ · 4.7★ (150) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Gmedia Photo Gallery 7K+ · 4.3★ (260) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too low 13 Groups – Memberships and Access Control 10K+ · 4.8★ (382) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 RootsPersona 400+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 User Access Manager 10K+ · 4.4★ (112) wp.org #20 ↑2 5 too low 16 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 System Dashboard 900+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too high 20 Documentation – Build a Knowledge Base, Help Center or Wiki 100+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #22 ↑2 2 too low 21 Cowboy MCP – Free MCP Server with Undo for Claude & ChatGPT 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 Post Grid & Post Slider – Carousel, Filter Tabs & Related Posts 1K+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Glossary Tooltip – Highlight Terms & Show Tooltips 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑2 4 too high 24 Simple SEO 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↑2 3 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.